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News Release

OPM Workers Judged Best in Five Competitions; Total of 247 Full Time Equivalent Jobs Remain Federal after 30 Months

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kay Coles James today announced that OPM has completed two A-76 streamlined competitions for its occupational health nurse and laborer activities, and that all four competitively sourced job functions were won by OPM employees. For the laborer competition, costs saved by OPM employees totaled $176,459. For the health nurse competition, a total of $344,661 was saved.

“I am pleased to make this announcement, because not only did federal employees win again, but the American taxpayers win as well,” stated James. “We work for the American people, and we have a responsibility to spend their money wisely. Competition between the federal government and the private sector, to perform activities not inherently governmental, drives excellence. OPM employees are excellent and ready to compete with the best.”

Under an A-76 streamlined competition involving ten or fewer employees, the cost of the government performance is compared with the estimated cost it would take a contractor to perform the activity over the performance term of five years for both competitions. The contractor-estimated cost is computed using fully loaded labor rates from existing federal contracts which match up with the duties and responsibilities of the federal positions.

The results of the latest competitions indicate that OPM’s employees can perform these job functions more efficiently and effectively than private sector competitors. “President George W. Bush’s Management Agenda calls for a federal government that delivers results to the American taxpayer, and competitive sourcing conducted fairly is one move toward meeting that challenge,” stated James.

In October 2003, OPM completed the A-76 standard competition of its test administration and warehousing activities. Here again, OPM employees won the competition involving 180 full time equivalent (FTE) positions. The OPM employees’ winning proposal reduces the cost of performing this activity by over $10 million over its five-year term.

OPM has six other A-76 streamlined competitions underway. The latest involve the agency’s network management, mail services, employee benefits, billing and collecting, trust fund accounting, and administrative accounting activities, and are scheduled to be completed by the end of April 2004. In addition to these competitions, OPM is conducting an A-76 standard competition of its clerical/technical and administrative support positions. These competitions will affect 163 FTE positions. The performance selection decision for the standard competition is scheduled for the end of August 2004.

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Our mission is to Recruit, Retain and Honor a World-Class Workforce to Serve the American People. OPM supports U.S. agencies with personnel services and policy leadership including staffing tools, guidance on labor-management relations and programs to improve work force performance.